Once you enter your adult years, birthdays can often be more stress than fun.

What would you do if your family made you foot the bill for your birthday your whole life? One girl recently sought validation about this on Reddit. Here are the details.

AITA for not celebrating my birthday anymore?

Today is my birthday and I turned 25(F).

Every birthday I’ve had, including this one, I have never received one birthday gift, I’ve had the odd occasional card.

I always focused my birthday gifts on what I needed and not wanted, and would send a relative who asked me what I wanted one item I needed.

She sounds very practically minded.

For example, aged 14, I needed new shoes as the shoes I had on were too tight and I had grown a size.

I told a relative I was constantly developing blisters and bleeding at the back of my ankle, never got the shoes, never got a present.

Every year, my relatives ask me what I want to do and where do I want to go for my birthday, it never happens.

These people need to read a parenting book.

If it does, my relatives say “I have to pay for it”, if I wanted to go to McDonald’s, for example, I have to pay for it myself, even though my family is doing okay financially.

Later on, I’m seeing a friend and her partner, but I’m the one having to make the effort and travel an hour on public transport, they have a car.

Those types of friends are draining.

My family asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday this year and what I wanted, I wanted to do nothing and go nowhere.

Family are telling me I’m TA and I’m being selfish for not wanting to celebrate.

At this point, I feel like the black sheep of the family. AITA?

Sounds like she’s been the black sheep for quite some time. Let’s see how the good people of Reddit weighed in on this.

One person offered a simple solution.

Another shared some valuable insight.

Someone was flabbergasted.

Resources were enthusiastically shared.

But one person was ultimately able to put it succinctly.

Sometimes the happiest birthdays are spent alone.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.